The Whaling Museum’s current exhibition, “Whalers of the African Diaspora,” brings to light an important yet largely unrepresented aspect of Long Island’s history. The two-year special exhibition employs artifacts, videos, and art to explore the history of African American mariners and their contributions to the whaling industry.

The show was curated by Eastville Historical Society’s Dr. Georgette Grier-Key, whose scholarship seeks to preserve and celebrate Long Island’s BIPOC heritage. Asserting the whaling industry as one of the first true meritocracies, “Whalers of the African Diaspora”  provokes a dialogue about upward mobility in the power of oppression.

The exhibition is an immersive celebration of African American whalers, without which, the whaling industry would be at a disadvantage. Highlighting the pivotal voyages, inventions, and discoveries pioneered by Black whalers, the show strives to emphasize a previously overlooked, yet highly influential demographic.

Most importantly, “Whalers of the African Diaspora” shines a light on the discrimination that permeated the industry, despite the opportunities it offered. The inclusion of these details can be dark and uncomfortable, but their presence is a necessary step in confronting our past. Illustrating these notions are the show’s wide array of artifacts. Harpoons, letters, and footage of sea shanties create a fascinating narrative of life for African American whalers. The show does not shy away from the harsh realities of racism in Long Island, featuring accounts of prejudice aboard whaling ships and advertisements calling for the capture of those who fled enslavement. The show uses these items to bring a contemporary understanding to Long Island’s history, pertaining both to race and the whaling industry. The intersection of these two facets is an essential detail to acknowledge when considering the
trade’s impact on our region’s economy and culture. The raw nature of this exhibition is powerful, both in its ability to lay bare Long Island’s history, and to call attention to the significance of whaling as a transformative process.

At the center of the exhibition’s narrative is Pyrrhus Concer, an accomplished whaler from Long Island who became the first African American to visit Japan. Concer’s story exemplifies the powerful contributions of Black whalers, and the rare opportunities presented by the maritime industry. The formerly enslaved Concer began going on whaling voyages at the age of 18 and quickly rose to prominence among his peers. His extensive skills and experience allowed him to excel despite the discrimination prevalent in American society. On display in the museum are artifacts from Concer’s Southampton home, each fragment indicative of his life. House tools, medicine bottles, and porcelain shards paint a picture of Concer’s autonomy, health, and success. The inclusion of such objects is not only a testament to Concer’s outstanding skills, but an act of resistance against the oppressive
circumstances he was forced to overcome.

This young woman dips her feathered hat as she walks by. She is holding a long, wrapped package in her gloved hand. We have caught her in passing, the only clues as to where she had been are in her hands and in the shape of her waist beneath her fitted jacket. In the context of this advertisement, she could be leaving after a successful corset fitting. She walks by, satisfied with her purchase. The box in her hands contains her recently purchased Redfern Whalebone Corset. For $15.00 or less she acquired a corset of the purest Arctic whalebone, the ideal material for controlling her figure. This advertisement from the Warner Brothers Company praises the elastic and pliable qualities of the luxurious material as essential for a high end and comfortable corset. Her corset fits her as well as the gloves on her hands. She smiles and moves on. On the wrapping is stamped the praise “A WOMAN HAS・AN・AWFUL LOT・TO・THANK A・WHALE・FOR.”

This source raises a very interesting question; what is this woman thanking the whale for? For what did a woman owe a whale? These four advertisements, selected from the Bridgeport History Center archive, offer some possible answers. Some of the main selling points are comfort, quality, and luxury, though there are certainly others. Do you find these points persuasive? Would your mother, grandmother, or great grandmother?
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The Warner Brothers Company produced and promoted whalebone corsets from 1894 until 1912. Redfern advertisements from 1894 to 1912 are rich in detail, explaining why a contemporary woman should purchase a whalebone corset for $15.00 to $3.50 over other, cheaper models boned with plant fibers, steel, feather shafts, or celluloid. At the turn of the twentieth century the necessity, purpose, and impact of corsetry was just as hotly contested then as it is today, though other garments have since replaced them. Advertisements such as the following examples contributed to the longevity of the American whaling industry by sustaining a demand for bowhead baleen in luxurious corsets at a time when the industry’s security in traditional markets, fuel and illumination for example, was threatened by cheaper and more readily available alternatives. Between the 1880s and 1910s, whalebone represented the most stable and secure market for the American whaling industry despite the rising price and unreliable quality of the material. The advertisements will help to explain why women continued to wear whalebone.

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This advertisement, published in Vogue in 1911 praises the quality and pliancy of the material. “You can twist, turn or bend a REDFERN CORSET in your hand, and it will spring back into its original shape, because it is boned with whalebone of the best grade, the only boning adapted to stiffening high grade corsets.” Warner’s, needing to secure high quality bone, purchased it as directly as they could without outfitting their own whalers. Redfern whalebone was purchased from New Bedford whalers returning from voyages into the Arctic grounds with holds filled with bowhead baleen. The quality of their bone, described as the “best,” “purest,” “genuine,” and “rarest” available, was a major selling point. Bowhead baleen secured from the Arctic grounds was the standard by which other whalebone was measured.  The shape of a bowhead’s mouth and the length of its baleen are special adaptations to its Arctic home. The price for Arctic whalebone was typically listed as a dollar or so more on average than other types of whalebone, an indication of its commercial value. Corset companies like Warner’s used the bone as a selling point, an indication of quality, status, and luxury. Contemporary sources generally agree that it was from the bowhead whale that the most, the longest, and the finest quality whalebone available to commercial whalers and dress or corset makers was harvested. According to Warner’s advertising, these properties made it better for shaping and keeping the form desired without restricting movements or creating discomfort. The pliancy of Arctic bone was one of the Redfern’s most important selling points because pliancy implied comfort. In securing a steady supply of high quality bone, Warner’s promised a comfortable, high quality corset.

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Corset advertisements make it clear that a woman owed thanks to the whale for her beautiful figure. The corset, as the foundational garment beneath flowing gowns and tailored suits, was largely responsible for the fashionable fit. A woman at the turn of the century was beautiful if she had fashionable lines. Beautiful forms were smooth, symmetrical, and so aesthetically pleasing. These ideals applied to fashion, art, objects, and bodies. The idealized beauty of the nineteenth century was the Venus de Milo, however, while advertisements praise the beautiful form, their models are Parisian, not Grecian. A woman in a Redfern was beautiful because her figure was modeled by her corset “into the contour which is the mode.” The Fashionable Woman depicted here as an artist’s model is a work of art. The aesthetic design was continuously in flux, dictated by the whims of Parisian fashion couture.



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By Elizabeth Marriott, Collections & Exhibits Coordinator

In 1843, Cold Spring Harbor was in need of an additional whaling ship. Its ships were all at sea, and the Cold Spring Whaling Company was looking to expand.

At this time, few ships were built for whaling; instead whaling companies bought trading vessels such as packet ships and retrofitted them for whaling. (Of Cold Spring Harbor's 9 vessels, only 1 - the NP Tallmadge - was originally built for whaling.)

The best converted whaleships maximized speed and carrying capacity. Packet ships were designed to hold large, heavy cargo and could be easily adapted to hold oil casks. Typically the biggest modification needed to convert a trading vessel to a whale ship was adding the tryworks - a brick furnace with giant cast-iron kettles used to render blubber into whale oil.

The Cold Spring Whaling Company rehired Captain William H. Hedges, a captain from East Hampton who successfully led several whaling voyages for Cold Spring Harbor. He met some feisty whale in his lifetime: a whale he harpooned struck the head of his whaleboat and tossed him into the water, where his boat crew hauled him to safety. Hedges traveled to New Bedford to inquire about vessels for sale. At the time, New Bedford was one of the busiest ports in the country and it wasn’t unusual to find 4 or 5 vessels for sale at any one time.

This 1843 letter to Walter R Jones (part-owner of the Cold Spring Whaling Company) from Captain Hedges gives us insight into the process, where he describes ships for sale including cargo space, speed, and major repairs in the ship’s history.

​Hedges was most excited  about the possibilty of buying the Roman. 

He continues:  

​"The ship has all her spars ... the lines, rigging, and all looks good for some years - I have made my inquires from the men who worked on her at building, and who at the Whaling Ship Office and have blinded them as much as possible by telling them she was valued to[o] high for our Company yet all say she is cheap- [illegible] at N. Bedford

They had an offer of $ 16000 cash yesterday by Cap Allen, N London...  Mr. Jones is willing for us to have her if we will take her at 17000 $ which he says is the least fraction he will take and thinks if she is not sold to fit her soon for whaling, he then came to this conclusion to suit the others concerned, but says he will not sacrifice any more on her than to do so ...  there is one or more people in N London who want her and intend to have her- and probably will in a few days if we do not conclude to take her at the $17,000.

I think her in all respects the cheapest ship in this part that I have heard from if she is sound- and they have not the least doubt of that...

I shall await an answer- hoping that you will write to have the bargain closed and to have Mr. J H Jones come on soon- please inform me of what course to pursue.... 

Your most obedient and humble servant- W.H. Hedges"

​The expense must have been too high in the end, because Captain Hedges left New Bedford without purchasing any ship. Based on the expense account he submitted to the Cold Spring Whaling Company, Hedges arrived in New Bedford on March 27th and returned to Cold Spring in June.

Hedges did recruit a boatsteerer - so the trip was not a complete loss! Ultimately, the company went on to purchase the Nathaniel P. Tallmadge, likely at a good price from the floundering Dutchess Whaling Company in Poughkeepsie, who was trying to stave off bankruptcy. Fully outfitted, this whaler was ready to go.

Hedges commanded the Tallmadge on his last voyage from 1843-1845. Hedges and his crew still faced feisty whales when a whale smashed a whaleboat gunwale. The boat was towed back to the ship with rapid bailing and clothes stuffed into the hole. Hedges retired from the sea and opened a store with his brother-in-law in Plattsburgh. 

All together, the Tallmadge made four successful voyages from 1843-1855, bringing in a total of 8,410 barrels of whale oil, 245 barrels of sperm whale oil, and 53,390 pounds of bone before being sold in New York City. The ship carried freight to and from New Orleans; a year later, she was rebuilt as a bark, renamed Norwood, and sold abroad.

Explore More:

Find out more about Cold Spring Harbor's whaling history in Mark Well the Whale by Frederick P. Schmitt - Available in the Museum gift shop